The present invention relates generally to the field of refrigerators having ice dispensers, and more specifically, to a refrigerator having a bulk ice dispenser with an integrated switch mechanism.
Many refrigerators manufactured today provide users with the ability to obtain water and/or ice through the door of the freezer or refrigerator compartments such that the water and/or ice may be obtained without the need to open the refrigerator or freezer door and expose the lower temperature compartment to the warmer room temperature of the surrounding environment. However, such “through the door” service is typically suitable only for dispensing relative small amounts of ice (e.g., for a single drinking glass) and is not well suited for dispensing ice in a bulk fashion because of the often limited space available with through the door services.
In order to efficiently dispense ice in bulk quantities, it is often necessary to open the refrigerator or freezer door, where a user may obtain bulk ice via an ice maker or ice dispenser through a discharge chute. In order to actuate the ice dispenser such that ice is discharged from the ice dispenser and through the discharge chute, a separate switching mechanism is typically needed from that used for through the door service.
Many refrigerators providing bulk ice service provide the switch mechanism for the ice dispenser within the refrigerated compartment in the form of, for example, a push button switch attached to a wall portion of the refrigerator compartment, such that bulk ice is dispensed for as long as a user depresses the switch.
One challenge of such bulk ice dispensing units is that the switch may not be aesthetically pleasing and may be unsightly in comparison with the often otherwise “clean” designs of many refrigerators.
Another challenge of typical ice dispensing switches is that the switch may be in an inconvenient location (e.g., located on a sidewall of the refrigerator compartment) where it may be difficult for a person receiving bulk ice to also depress the actuation switch.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a refrigerator having a bulk ice dispensing unit with an aesthetically pleasing, integrated switch mechanism. It would also be advantageous to provide a refrigerator having a bulk ice dispensing unit with an easily accessible switch mechanism.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a refrigerator with an ice dispenser that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features or addresses one or more of the above-identified needs. Other features and advantages will become apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed herein extend to those embodiments that fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-identified needs.